A BREATH OF SALT AIR 

Flowers by the Sea One of the ultimate luxuries is to have a flower garden by the sea.  My friend Sara has a dazzling example. When I first saw the colorful profusion of blooms set against tranquil blue water under an open sky I was astounded.  I knew I had to paint...

Why paint a dune? Stepping along the wooden walkway over the beach pines that grow right out of sand and knowing that I am heading toward the ocean is exhilarating. Even if  I am lugging 20 lbs of painting equipment. At the aptly named Dune Beach in Southampton, one...

I use a lot of lavender paint, a pale tint of violet that can slant toward blue.  The color is sometimes a light pinkish violet and can include a vast range of vibrant purples to blue tinged muted grays. I adore all the many flowers that come in shades of lavender....

It is shocking how rapidly the temper of open water can change. Early this morning the entire bay was a glassy cerulean blue punctuated with soft aqua green strokes. Only a couple of hours later and the winds have radically changed direction. A dark teal, ultramarine...

I’m out here on another adventure in plein air (outdoor) painting at Scallop Pond in Southampton.  Here is a broad expanse of magnificent salt water marshland that is property conserved by the Peconic Land Trust.  Far enough removed from the sounds of cars and trucks,...

“Those that find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.” L.W. Gilbert Now that the weather is warmer, I’ve been able to get outside to paint.  When you are plein air painting the challenges can be enormous.  The weather...

Your Mood and the Water I like to go down to the water, any water, when I’m feeling stressed.  So many of us do and it always seems to help. I’m so curious about why that should be. Can those drifting tides and ripples moving speedily along the water wash your cares...

Listening to the Water Is the reverberating crash and boom of an ocean wave soothing to you? Some people would love to live by the ocean.  One friend remarked that she had “the best night’s sleep ever” by the sea. To some, that incessant thud is just annoying. Some...

  My friend Christina Daub, poet and professor of creative writing sent me this “whole little perfect poem”. I felt this small oil painting with its big insistent boom went with the words. Click here to view see it on my site...

Each visitor arriving at the beach does the exact same thing. Stepping over the sand to view the wide expanse of water, they breathe in and then let out a small sigh. There it is! Undeniably magnificent, the ocean completely arrests our senses. Always slightly...

Does this wave look familiar? It is probably the most famous and extraordinary of all Japanese art, created as a woodblock print almost 200 years ago.  Today we see it everywhere, printed on T-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs. This image has power. The wave is a...

Have you ever noticed the Moon out in the daytime? I always marveled at this since as a child I was under the impression that the moon comes out at night. Not entirely true. When you look at the Moon you are seeing the bright light of the Sun reflecting off it. Two...

Sketching in pencil by the side of the beach takes me back in time.  I feel connected to the art of the past. After all, making marks on a surface is one of the most basic human expressions of communication. We have drawings in caves and on rocks dating back to...

Sometimes there is a haze of blue humidity hanging over the bay.  It’s a soft light but also persistently bright all in the same instant.  Take a moment to watch it and it appears to shift right before your eyes. This morning there was a veil of cerulean haze...

When you get down to the ocean you never quite know what to expect. Will it be peaceful and flat, or rough and churned up?  The sea with its changeable and unpredictable moods will confound you every time. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of temper the water is in....